The Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT on Tuesday adjourned all the cases slated for this week, including the trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on charges of false and anticipatory asset declaration, till September.
The CCT’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Mr. Ibraheem Al-hassan, said in a statement that the development was due to an ongoing meeting between the CCT officials and some foreign stakeholders on the development of the Code of Ethics and Practice Directions for the CCT.
Al-hassan stated that all the cases slated for this week, the rest of July and August, had been adjourned till September after the vacation, which the tribunal’s judges would soon embark on.
The development goes contrary to the initial stance by the CCT Chairman Danladi Umar who had maintained severally that Saraki’s trial needed to proceed on a daily basis in consonance with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) of 2015 which stipulates a speedy dispensation of all criminal trials.
The statement from the CCT added, “The Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal, Hon. Danladi Yakubu Umar, on Tuesday, adjourned all sittings scheduled for this week and those to come within July and August till after the resumption from recess to be embarked upon by the tribunal’s judges soon.
“The decision was taken due to the ongoing Roundtable Discussion involving CCT and other critical stakeholders within and outside the country to develop the Code of Ethics and Practice Directions for the Code of Conduct Tribunal to ensure fair and speedy trials, sponsored by the European Union and implemented by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
”He, however, assured that litigants currently with cases before the court, would have their new dates shortly after the vacation, September, 2016, which would be communicated to them, appropriately. The Tribunal regrets the pains caused by the sudden change.”
Saraki is being prosecuted by the Federal Government before the CCT on 16 counts, including false and anticipatory declaration of asset declaration, which he allegedly made between 2003 and 2011 when he served as the Governor of Kwara State.
He is also accused of operating foreign account as a public officer and of receiving governor’s salary or emoluments in addition to his salary as a Senator for some periods after completing his two terms as governor and got elected as a Senator.
The Umar-led CCT had, on June 21, 2016 fixed Wednesday (today) for ruling on an application by Saraki, asking the tribunal chairman to disqualify himself from further presiding over his trial.
The Senate president, through his lead counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), filed his motion on June 13, 2016, alleging that a comment made by Umar during the proceedings of June 7, while warning that the defence’s delay tactics in the trial would not “reduce the consequences” which Saraki would meet at the end of the trial.
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